


Field Day

by IllusionWriter



Series: Fear The Walking Mutes [1]
Category: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Cartoon)
Genre: Death, End of the World, Experimentation, Headcanon, Pre-Canon, Science, Science Experiments, Scientific Testing, Swearing, That one scientist that always effs things up, alternative reality, pre-season1, scientists - Freeform, things go very wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:19:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24547519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllusionWriter/pseuds/IllusionWriter
Summary: The engine soon started, and the wheels turned. They were now on their way to the final test facility, where history’s fate would soon be either changed for the better, or have nothing to show for it.To them, worse was never considered as an option.
Series: Fear The Walking Mutes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728472
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Field Day

**‘PROJECT MU-GENO’ TEST LOG 2017-2020 - ((CONFIDENCIAL))**

**(2/5/17)**

**Two months. TWO LONG MONTHS. And finally, some more subjects can be tested with the injections. Just waiting for results from the head scientist. It’s mine or hers. My particular strand has been nominated for comparison due to it’s similar effects and slightly greater last time. If I could find a way to test more out of sight and away from prying eyes, maybe it can be better improved. Maybe I can cohere my way through an extra test without much of a fuss...we’ll see.**

**(7/8/17)**

**NO WAY. NO WAY IN HELL SHE GOT HERS PASSED! I WONT STAND FOR THIS. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY’RE RISKING!**

**(10/23/20)**

**Okay. Today’s the day. Won’t be long before we’re called in for the launch. The original initial tests have been completed, but the head brains in charge denied my requests to use my own strand for the final launch. The damn reason? Results were too spastic. Too unstable. Yet, they have consistently shown more effective results, like I predicted before. Longer resurrection times after subject deaths, super-shocking their vitals back into working function briefly, and exponential growth in mental and physical alertness...and LONGER than Dr. Rosene expected...if my version were to work, the results that Dr. Rosene plans to achieve would tenfold. And I’m about to see those results today. MY results. This isn’t something I haven’t accomplished before. I know I will find no regret in my choice to sw**

The scientist spun around in his chair, interrupted by a succession of bold knocking upon his research chamber.

“Dr. Nickolas? The staff is ready. Everything is set.”

Nickolas hurriedly closed his journal and hid it inside of his work desk, locking it with a silver key on his keyring. He inserted his writing pen back in his white shirt pocket and straightened his collar.

“Alright...showtime.” he whispered to himself. Another round of knocking at the door followed soon after; now a bit more rushed.

“I’m all ready. I’m coming out now.” Dr. Nickolas answered back. He looked back at the drawer that hid his personal thoughts and smirked deeply.

Twisting the door handle with a bit of hesitation, he eventually pulled it open and was greeted with an old face. Nickolas’s face lit up immediately, finding the gaze of an old friend looking back at him.

“Jermaine, good to see you again! Didn’t even recognize your voice! So, how has your vacation been?”

Jermaine sighed a quick sigh and chuckled. “I wouldn’t have called it a vacation...more like a location I’ve been placed in to obsess in thought about the going-on’s of work. Couldn’t stop thinking about the project...how far we’ve come, and it’s all about to come into fruition today.”

Nickolas couldn’t help but trail his eyes away as he began to walk with his colleague.

“Once in a lifetime chance right here. If this works...it’ll rock the scientific community and nature's ecosystem. It could save thousand of different species from extinction. If it doesn’t...we tried. The harm is non-existent and and nothing hurts the environment. Just a failed experiment. So we’ll pick ourselves up and try again.” Jermaine punctuated, a bright smile pastured on his face.

“Yeah...” Nickolas replied, his voice unintentionally tense. His friend caught note.

“Hey...” Jermaine looked to his friend and his joyous face was replaced with one of utmost seriousness; and a bit of empathy. “Sorry about your test conclusions. I know your version didn’t make candidacy, but the fact of the matter is you actually tried.”

The pair of scientists rounded the corner and was met with the bright rays of the sun through the glass double doors they were moving towards.

“And you managed. You got majorly close with yours. That in itself is an accomplishment.” Jermaine continued. 

Nickolas’s partner pulled out his phone as they approached the lab exit doors, checking the time as the sun fully met them from above.

“And not a second to waste, either. Dr. Rosene and her pose should be arriving any minute.”

Only a few minutes passed, but to the two scientists it felt like the time was tripled. Both were anxious and excited. 

Both for different reasons.

The sound of a low humming sounded in the distance before it’s origins became clear: a white SUV vehicle trailing closer to the lab facility. The vehicle came to a screeching halt not far from them, one of the passenger doors sliding open to reveal a familiar face to them both.

_Dr. Rosene._

Jermaine smiled back, and Nickolas gritted his teeth.

“Good evening, boys. Everything’s set down at the project HQ. Their just waiting for our final analysis and word. Looks like we’re finally close to the finish line. And Dr. Nickolas...”

Rosene looked into straight into Nickolas’s eyes. “Thank you for your contributions. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

Keeping his feigning smile, Nickolas replied with conjured ecstatic energy, but deep down, the impatience he held couldn’t have been more invasive.

“This is something the history books are going to write about, for sure! Let’s hit the road.”

Rosene and Jermaine couldn’t have agreed more. Without another word, they joined the head scientist Rosene back into the SUV. Nickolas and Jermaine took one last glance at the research lab they had exited. The bright, blue and red colored sign _‘Genobis_ ’ that was spelt out in the center of building glistened back in the light of the shining sun.

The engine soon started, and the wheels turned. They were now on their way to the final test facility, where history’s fate would soon be either changed for the better, or have nothing to show for it.

To them, _worse_ was never considered as an option.

* * *

  
_‘Head scientist? Yeah, right. The so-called ‘hot-shot’ sprouts from out of the southern district of Las Vistas and we’re supposed to trust her with a project of this magnitude? Something THIS important? I won’t regret what I did. I can’t. Everything is already in motion and there’s no turning back. No admittance. I’ve made the calculations and everything should work out fine...and the results we’re looking for? It’s going to multiply. I’ve been at this work for double her time. I couldn’t let this one sli-’_

“You anxious, Dr. Nikolai?”

Nikolai receeded from his fixated glaring out of the passenger window. He gained his smile back in an instant.

“No, not at all. Just thinking about what comes next after all of this.”

“You and us both, pal. The atmospheric launch shouldn’t last more than a minute. After that, we’ll have all the time we need to drink merlot wine and speculate how to explain the beam of light shooting up into the sky to the conspiracy nuts.” Jermaine said as he stifled a relatively childish chuckle.

Dr. Rosene let out an abrupt laugh in response, her head now buried in her hands to cool the uncontrollable fit of chortling she was due to let out.

“Um, Jermaine? It’s not a ray, it’s a chemical mist. You do know that the mist will be practically invisible to human perception...right? You were briefed on this before you left.”

“What? Really? So..no spectacular beam of light that pierces the heavens?” Jermaine said, looking into Rosene’s eyes with a look of hope that she was joking.

“Well, keep the ‘pierces the heavens' part in, and you’ll be correct. Goes far enough into the atmosphere, then spreads out. It won’t spread out too far and effect more than Las Vistas’s geography. We’ve already figured out the distance spread...all we have to do is monitor the wildlife and after a couple of years of comparisons and dreaded waiting...we’ll get to see if we have our true results.” Rosene clarified.

She earned narrowed eyes from Jermaine. “I already knew everything else, Dr. Smarty Pants.”

The SUV suddenly jerked, sending vehicle’s passengers shifting in their seat belts.

“Sorry! Pot hole. Didn’t see it.” the SUV driver responded.

From grassy to more barren and dusty, the terrain went. There was now more people in the vehicle than trees around them as the facility launch center along with the various hills that circulated it was now in view. The facility’s gates were growing closer with every second. And every second felt like an extra pound on Dr. Nickolas’s heart.

_‘Everything was about to change for the better...’_

At least, that’s what Nickolas thought to himself as they approached through the gates, where a gray, massive building that held the atmospheric machine awaited them.

* * *

“Mu-Geno capsule 1...is a go...”

  
Nickolas stood in a horizontal line along with his colleagues and some other supporting scientists, watching the magenta-colored liquid in the giant capsules being handled behind the protective glass for the eventual launch. Slowly and carefully, the liquids from each container were poured into spherical balls and then loaded into their respective places inside of the launch machine.

  
The nose of the atmospheric machine stuck out of the ceiling, which was modified to open and close for launch use. It was a bright morning, and the skies were clear and perfect for the day.

As Nickolas watched the man in the bio-suit with strained eyes, he couldn’t help but think of things yet to happen. Things that may not happen at all.

  
“Mu-Geno capsule 2...is a go.”

  
Nickolas’s eyes refused to leave the man inside of the hazmat suit, trailing his sight along with the careful maneuvers the protected human made with his hands as he moved the capsules into their respective places.

Even as his colleague addressed him.

“This is nerve-wracking...temperature is consistent, but still....guess I’m still not in full-on _‘work mode’_ yet. Maybe I should lay off the vacations for awhile, huh?” Jermaine whispered to Nickolas. 

However, Nickolas didn’t reply. His focus was unmoved.

  
“Mu-Geno capsule 3 is...a go. Two more left.”

  
Nickolas’s heartbeat raced even faster than before. After an hour, everything would seemingly be over for him, finally. All that needed to happen was for the system launch check to be cleared. 

“Mu -Geno capsule 4 is a go. One more left.” the hazmat worker confirmed.

  
Nickolas’s palms began to sweat. His eyes widened as the last capsule was carefully loaded into the machine. It clicked in place and a final sizzle was heard, the cold steam rising in response to it’s insertion. A long pause filled the room, leaving the low humming and beeps of the various machines and gadgetry at the forefront of any kind of noise. Then the hazmat worker stood straight. Turning around, he smiled and lifted his hand up in a relieving gesture.

A thumbs up.

The gathering of science workers visibly eased their tense postures. Some sighed, some laughed, and a few smiled in glee.

But Dr. Nickolas did more than just smile. He smirked. His hands gripped the rails of the platform that stood supported above the atmospheric launch machine. He would finally get to witness it. 

His success.

 ** _His_ **success.

  
“Okay,” a voice resonated from behind the rest of the gathered scientists. The project supervisor stepped forward, hands behind his back. “Initiate the countdown sequence. Let’s see this through.”

* * *

  
The squeaking of the cart wheels and the knocking of the glass containers that were stored upon it echoed through the halls of the Genobis research facility.

An anti-biochemical suit covered the form of the dual employees that pushed it along, meeting the corner of the corridor and stopping the cart in front of a yellow door. On it read words in capital, bold lettering:

  
**‘Bio-chemical disposal storage’**  
**DO NOT ENTER**

  
Well it didn’t apply to _them_ , of course.

So in they went, their boots squeaking along with the cart wheels as they pushed it inside of the room. Now inside, the employee looked up at the storage disposal rack and sighed heavily.

“Long day...” one said, lifting the five sets of cases that held the purplish liquidy substances inside. One by one, they placed them upon a nearby table and reached for a nearby clipboard. Going through proper procedures, one employee went over the standard stuff on the checklist.

Confirmation of chemical transport, confirmation of employee on-site, confirmation of chemical test sample number...

“Wait...what?”

It was hard to spot at first, but only now was the worry setting in. The white sticker label that held the chemical number for the failed strand. She noticed that it was...

The employee saw a silhouette behind the label sticker through the light that shined throughout the room and used her fingernail to gently peel it off of the glass capsule to reveal a startling revelation.

The failed chemical had been stickered over the actual chemical number.

The employee checked the label title on the checklist a second time, looking at the modified label that he had just pulled off. Then she eyed the label that remained on the container.

The original.

“Oh no....no, no no, _no_...Jake, come in here!”

The two employees rushed to check the other four containers, peeling off the labels and found they were all stickered over, revealing that they did indeed have the successfully tested chemical.

The one that was supposed to be used in the atmospheric launch.

“Oooh shit.”

* * *

**Countdown is starting...**

The words slipped through Nickolas’s ears like honey.

 _‘Almost there...’_ he thought, his eyes widening as the red number displayed in front of him, appearing in the reflection of his glasses as it showed on screen.

  
**10**

  
“This is killing me. In a good way.” Jermaine said, eyeing Dr. Rosene, who smiled back.

“It’s killing me even more. Hope this works out...no, it will. It will work out.”

**9**

**8**

**7**

**6**

“Has it been an hour yet? Cause it feels like it’s been an hour.” one of the scientists said, earning a few laughs.

**5**

**4**

**3**

The phone in Dr. Rosene’s pocket began to ring and vibrate against her thigh. Still eying the decreasing number in front of her, she answered.

“This is Dr. Rosene.”

**2**

Rosene’s heart dropped almost in an instant.

**1**

  
“Cancel off the launch! Shut it off now, we’ve got the wrong ones!” Rosene watched helplessly as the machine’s low humming grew into a loud rumble. 

**0**

**Launch Initating...**

Rosene repeated her cries to the bio-suit worker below who at first confused, quickly got the picture. The worker pulled the emergency shut down level, but it had failed to cease the machine’s gathering of power.

“It can’t! It’s too far into the launch sequence!”

All of the scientists and workers around Rosene shuffled around nervously at the new implications.

“Rosene? Nickolas? What the hell’s going on?” Jermaine asked as his heart panged.

Dr. Rosene ignored the question and listened frantically at the next bout of information given on the other end of the phone line.

It was then that Rosene froze up, lowered her phone and looked directly at Nickolas.

“You son of a-” Rosene dashed at the smug scientist and grabbed his shirt collar, bringing his face angrily close to hers. “You switched the labels, didn’t you? Didn’t you!? Do you know how much deep trouble you’re in? How could you do this?”

She earned only a calm smile back. 

“I have nothing to be ashamed of. I actually know what I’m doing. Your strand was going to end in failure! I’ve been studying the effects of harmless, proven substances and mixtures and their effects on wildlife for years!”

“But your type failed initial testing two times over! You’re endangering everyone! This is illegal, and if this spreads out and fails-”

The atmospheric launch rocket readied itself inside of the machine that harbored it, and as the sound of it’s close departure grew and grew, it finally came to a conclusion. The rocket containing the previously-failed chemicals began to fly off through the opening in the building’s roof with a deafening roar, the noise-canceling ear muffs they were required to wear protecting their ear drums.

Rosene glared fiercely at Nickolas’s betrayal of trust and let him go. She swiftly whirled around to run downstairs towards the building’s exit doors and disappeared behind them. The project supervisor approached Jermaine with an agitated expression.

“What in god’s name just happened? Who was on the other end of that call?” he questioned as Jermaine eyed Nickolas, who calmly walked out of the launch building after Rosene.

“The disposal team...they found out that the chemicals poured in the launch capsules were the ones modified by Nickolas. The ones that failed initial testing...anything could happen now...” Jermaine explained as the two both bounded out of the door. Before the supervisor left after them, he pointed at the remaining scientists and workers.

“Stay in here and monitor any changes in data. Notify me if the chemical disperse surpasses the intended mile radius!”

* * *

Rosene nearly tripped in her hasted bid to look at the sky as she left the lab. The launch missile was already well past 600 feet and if the predicted steps in the launch process still stood, it would disassemble and let loose the spheres that held the chemicals around the 3,000 feet mark...she kept going through the calculations and possible scenarios in her head, even as Nickolas assured her confidently as he approached from behind.

The crows cawed from above as the dead-on rays of the sun showered against Rosene’s face. Her eyes could no longer register the form of the rocket clearly, and every second that passed was a question followed by an educated guess.

_‘How far would it spread? We don’t know the compound mixtures used in Nickolas’s chemicals...he could be poisoning the wildlife...’_

Rosene’s thoughts were interrupted by a hand on her shoulder and a familiar voice.

“I wouldn’t have done this if I wasn’t sure. You have to understa-”

Nickolas’s words were halted by a solid swing of her arm. Her fist connected with Nickolas’s jaw just as the project supervisor came out. Jermaine ran to Nickolas’s side to witness him spitting out a bit of blood.

“You broke serious measure in the protocol, Nickolas! You could be endearing wild animal and plant life, and all over some stupid bid for attention!? You could face charges on a federal level for this!”

Nickolas got up and looked at the sky.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Jermaine retorted. “You’re my close friend. I know you the most. I’ve noticed you change over the years; always wanting to stay on top. And when some project of yours fails, you always have an excuse. And this time...you’ve gone too far.”

Jermaine’s attention shot back towards the sky as a purple hue expanded across the sky in a slow, creeping manor. The rocket had finally dispersed. The small group of scientists watched as the display of the pink mist-like substance began to move out in all directions high above them.

“There shouldn’t be a color...it shouldn’t be visible...” Rosene whispered under her breath.

Meanwhile, the project supervisor received a call. He answered, staring down at Nickolas as he wordlessly watched the spectacle transpire in the sky with a smile on his face.

From inside the lab, he was informed that they were actively tracking the distance of the mist cloud. He hung up and gestured to everyone outside.

“We need to get back inside now. We don’t know what kind of effect the particles will have on any of us.”

Jermaine nodded and grabbed Nickolas’s arm. “We need to get inside now-ughh!”

Nickolas had abruptly pushed Jermaine away and stumbled to his feet, walking past the scientist. He continued to direct his eyesight at the sky, which was gradually showing it’s original blue color now that the mist had begun to separate.

“I’m staying right here.” Nickolas stated boldly, wiping the access blood from his lip.

“Mr. Martin, I’ll watch him.” Jermaine offered the project supervisor. “Go ahead and contact proper authorities. And remember to close the ventilation!”

A loud array of cawing suddenly echoed through the air. And not the kind everyone was typical with hearing. This screeching was laced in excruciating pain. Everyone’s eyes traced the sky above to find it’s origins before they became all too apparent. The crows that had circled the sky were convulsing and dropping in and out of flight, twitching madly as they struggled to stay afloat.

“No. No way.” Jermaine muttered in disbelief, watching in dismay as the birds continued to freak out.

The world seemed to stop for the distraught scientists as they witnessed what happened next. The unthinkable. Even to Nickolas.

The crow’s forms began to twist, and their wings began to grow in length. With a loud, deeper tone, the crows cried an ear-piercing screech that planted icy shards through the human’s hearts. Their beaks began to grow in length as well, becoming deadly sharp. The scientists were left frozen in their tracks, not wanting to except what had just happened. The black birds had morphed into something dangerous.

Something _hungry_.

Their black, beady eyes searched around the barren landscape, greedily looking for anything that breathed.

And then they found something.

Rosene was the first to run.

“Come on, inside now! Everybody inside now!” she screamed, dashing towards the launch facility’s doors. She let the project supervisor through first, but found Jermaine still by Dr. Nickolas’s unmoving side.

Jermaine tried dragging him to the doors, but he was unsuccessful. He was paralyzed in place. Jermaine cried desperately for his friend and colleague to come with him but he wouldn’t budge, even as the transformed crows honed in on their position, beaks snapping viciously for a supposed meal.

“Jermaine, leave him! He won’t listen! Come inside, the crows are getting closer!” Rosene pleaded as she waved him over from the safety of the double doors.

Jermaine looked up to find the now giant crows just barely upon them. He looked down at his friend who eyes were still locked towards the sky and then back at the crows.

“I’m sorry...” he said, rushing up and dashing for the facility entrance. He rushed inside and slammed the doors behind them just as something heavily impacted against them, pushing them inwards slightly.

Then they all heard the horrific screams of their fellow colleague from behind the metal doors as he was mercilessly torn apart. The sound of Nickolas’s terrified shrieks cemented themselves inside of every human that remained in the building. All of the scientists out of the loop of things had no time to process the quick change of events as Rosene threw her eyes up at the spherical opening in the ceiling that the atmospheric launch nose had perpetrated through.

It left them wide open for the genetically-modified crows’ guilty pleasures.

“Close the opening! Hurry and close the-”

The terrible screeching and cawing began once more as another bang was heard against the entrance doors. Not a second later, one of the deadly crows peered through the opening in the building’s roof, and locked eyes with it’s prey through the glass that separated them.

Then everything went to hell.

The first scientist that screamed was it’s first target. It had finally squeezed through the entrance from above and darted into the crowd of workers on the top platform, crashing through the glass that was supposed to protect them and driving it’s beak through the shrieking scientist’s chest. The small crowd dispersed in horror, leaving one that tried their best to remove the now deceased colleague from the creature. They too were met with a violent end, a claw swiping against their body and leaving them motionless.

The remaining group scrambled towards the back of the launch observation room, helpless to fight against the merciless, beaked creatures that honed in on them.

“We can save them!” the project supervisor screamed as Rosene and Jermaine pulled him back. “We can! We can’t just let them die!”

Rosene gave a deeply downhearted expression, her eyes tearing up. She moved towards the locked storage room and scanned her key card, the door sliding open.

“No we can’t...It's too late.”

Jermaine flinched at the growing screams and cries of pain above them as the rest of the scientists on the second floor were finally targeted by the ravenous birds. There was no exit or extra room on the second floor. They all had no where to run and no where to escape. And so he punched the storage room wall as he entered and the door closed locked behind him. The screaming had slowly died down and all was soon quiet save for the cawing that continued from outside of where they hid.

The room wasn’t too big, but it was more than enough for them to sit comfortably. Jermaine shifted his eyes slowly around the various small pieces of equipment that were stacked and sorted neatly on shelves alongside the back of the storage room. Nothing in sight was valuable for any defense. Small sobs began to sound off behind him.

“It’s not your fault, you know. None of this. None of this is on you.” Jermaine told Rosene, turning to find her head buried in her hands.

“I know...” she replied in a broken tone. She lifted her tear-covered face to look at him with her dispirited gaze. “But whatever just happened...that’s happening to more than just us right now. If that chemical did that to those crows...I can’t even imagine...a bear? A lion? What about the Las Vistas zoo?”

Rosene’s crying only intensified at the revelation she now had time to process. Everything that could’ve gone wrong had gone wrong, in her head. She didn’t even know how far or fast the chemical was spreading. She thought of relatives, friends and neighbors. She had failed them too...whether indirectly or not.

Another loud bang was heard from outside near the entrance and the sound of a heavy metal scraping against the floor followed.

“They finally broke through...I’ll contact the government. The sounds they hear should be enough for them to at least take us seriously.” the project supervisor said as he pulled out his phone to dial.

“We need to document this. As it’s happening.” Jermaine told them. He pulled out his own phone and pulled up his camera application, pressing record.

“Hello. I-I am Dr. Jermaine. This is Dr. Rosene. And this is Dr. Martin; project supervisor of our current project. It’s called the Mu-Geno project. A pro-”

Jermaine’s talk was interrupted by the loud bout of commotion caused by the mutant crows as they crashed around the facility. He continued in a bolder voice.

“A project that we have failed on. Fellow lead scientist Nickolas switched the chemical type of the verified and proven-safe type that Dr. Rosene herself created and tested with that of his own, which was not properly tested. It resulted in what you now currently hear outside of the room where hiding in. It genetically transformed the nearby crows and god knows how many animals in the radius of the launch. I will make it clear: Dr. Rosene is not to blame for ANY of this. Dr. Nickolas Jones committed a felony. Dr. Nickolas is also now dead. Killed by the mutant crows....I tried to...”

Jermaine choked up, but slowly calmed himself. He continued.

“...I tried to save him. All the other research and scientific staff on the team here at the Las Vistas Genobis launch facility are also presumed deceased because of those creatures...if we make it through this alive, I want this to be our testimony. And our sincere, deepest apologies. Please forgive us. And please...stay sa-”

_**BANG** _

Jermaine, Rosene and Martin all froze their breathing as a loud bang rang against the door that separated them from certain death. The three looked at each other with horrified expressions only to have another heavy force strike against the storage door, which loosened it within it’s frame. The screeching and flapping of wings called for their demise.

The mutated crows had heard them.

_**BANG** _

Another hit opposed the metal door that protected them. This time it had bent inward.

The assault against the storage room they were now trapped in seemed to go on forever in the remaining scientists’ heads.

  
But they knew all too well that _nothing_ lasts forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Ending song: [Radiohead - 4 Minute Warning](https://youtu.be/xruauLm9u3k)


End file.
